| OCR Text |
Show Iumammmmeemmmmmmmmammmmmmmam Christmas Dugout Sergcanjt Arthur Guy ' Erapey ' Author of "Over the Tor" "First Call," Etc. O-O-O MrvEmpey'3 Expcri-I Expcri-I encesDuringlHsSevcn-teen encesDuringlHsSevcn-teen Months in theFirst Line Trenches of the British Army in France (Cupright, 1?IT. br Tim MrCluio Nowipapcr i BrtnUeale) 5 It wns Christmas ove, imd cold; not tlio kind of colli which sends the rod blood UiiRlInu through your veins nud tiialtuH you want " to bo "up nnd nt cm," but thut miserable dump kind Hint cuts Into the mnrroW of your bones, nttricklnjr you rrom tho rcilr nnd ending cold shivers cp nnd down your splnnl column. It gives you n feeling , of dread nnd loneliness. ' Tho threo of us, "Curly," "Ilnpp.v," olid myself, wero standing nt tho cor ner of "Ynnkco nvenno" nnd "Yiddish I street," watting for the word"Stnttd to," upon which, we were to mount our I machine gun on tho pnropct nnd bo on wntch for two hours with our heads , stlcklug over tho top. I "Yankee nvcnuo" wns tho nnmo of I tho flro trench, whllo "Yiddish street" 1 wns tho communication trench lending to tho rear. Wo wero occupying "Y" sector of tho front lino of our brlgnde. Tho trench wns muddy, and In Homo places 11 thin crust of Ico wns begin nine to form around tho edges of tho puddles. Wo hud wrapped our feet nnd legs l with empty sand bngs, nnd looked lllco l snow shovolors on Fifth avenue. My. I teeth wero chattering with tho cold. Happy wns slopping his hands on his I thighs, while Curly had unbuttoned ono of tho buttons on his overcoat, nnd with his left hnnd wns desperately trying to rench under his right nrmplt no doubt a "cootlo" had gono marketing mar-keting for Its Christmas dinner. Then enmo tho unwelcomo "Stand to," nnd It wns up on thu flrcstop for us, to get our gun mounted. This tool; about llva minutes. Curly, whllo working awny, wns muttering: "Bllmomo. Christmas ovc, r, and 'oro I am somcwhero In France, , . 'nlf starved with tho cold." ; Ilnppy was humming "Keep tho Homo Fires Burning." Ulght then, to mo, any kind of n homo flro would lmvo been very welcome. It was black as pitch In No Mnn's land. Curly stopped muttering to him: BH self nnd Happy's humming censed. BBa There was serious work In front of us. BBS For' two hours wo had to try nnd. peno- trato that blackness with our straining Ba eyes to sec tlmt Fritz did not surprlso BBa us with Bomo Christmas stunt of his. Suddenly, nappy, who wns standing BBa on tho flrcstop next to mo, gripped my Bm arm, nnd In a low, excited whisper, BBfl ' "Did you sco that out In front, Yank. Bb n llttlo to tho right of that black pntch In tho barbod wire?" Bm 1 Turning my eyes lit tho direction In- , dlcated. with my henrt pounding ngnlnst my ribs, I waited for some-thing some-thing to develop. Suro enough, T could mnlca out n BBa slight movement. Happy must lmvo seen it nt tho snmo time, becnuso ho. carefully cased his rlflo over tho top, rendy for Instnut use. My rlflo wns al-BBj al-BBj ready In position. Curly wns fumbling with tho llnrc pistol. Suddenly, "plop !" BBj as hn pulled tho trigger, nnd n red strenk shot up Into tho air as tho star-shell star-shell described an arc out In front ; It hit tho ground and hurst, throwing out a white, ghostly light. A fright-BBa fright-BBa encl "meouw," and n cnt, with speed clutch open, darted from tho wlro,ln BBm front of us, Jumped over our gun nnd B disappeared Into tho blackness of tho trench. Curly ducked his head, nnd Hnppy let out a weak, squeaky laugh. I was frozen stiff with fear. Pretty BBj i soon the pump uctlnn of my heart was BB resumed, nnd onco moro I looked out j Into No Mnn's laud. Bb Fpr tho remainder of our two hours BB ; on gunrd nothing happened. Then wq B "turned over" to tho second relief nnd, B half frozen, wended our way through tho Icy mud to tho catrnnco of our Bb From tho depths of the earth enmo fl tho notes of a harmonica playing BB' "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old , Kit ling, and Smile, Smile, Smile." Bj Stumbling down tho muddy steps wo BBV . entered tho dugout. About eight boys Bfl of our section, sitting on, their packs, )md formed a circle around a wooden Bl box. In an old ammunition tin six f candles wero burning I inwardly shud- ( tiered nt th(s extravagance, but sud- Bl denly remembered that it .was Christ- Hl inns eve. "Sailor I5IU" wns mnklnt; cocoa over tho flames of a "Tommy's cooker," whllo "Ikcy" Honney wns toasting bread in front of a trench flro B bucket, tho fumes from which nearly Bh choked us. BBfl ' As soon as wo mndo our appearanco in the.dttgout tho circle stood up, nnd, ns is usual with tho English, mndo room for us to get around tho flro Hj liuckot to thaw out our stiffened joints. In about twenty minutes or so tho cold of tho trench was forgotten and wo Joined in tXia merriment. Tho nut- Bl slclun put hU Imrmonlca nwuy, nnd, bursting with Importune?, Sailor Bill B be' lrossed us : j B "Gentlemen, it is now tlmo for hB ship's compunr to report progress' ns to Whnt they lmvo dono for the Chrlst-mns Chrlst-mns feed which Is to bo held tomorrow tomor-row nt eight bells. Yank, let's hear yours." I reported ono dozen eggs, two bottles bot-tles of white wine, diw bottle of red wine, eight packets of Gold Flako "fags" (clgnrottes), and ono quart bottlo of champagne, which hnd cost mo fivo frnncs nt n French estamlnct. This report wns received with n cheer. "Ikey" Honney wns next In qrdcr, Ho prpudly stated that ho had saved hl3 rum Issyo for tho Inst eleven daw. and consequently was nblo to doBto to tho fenst his water bottlo tiircc'fourtha full of rum. This would help out in ranking brandy snuco for tho plum pudding. Sailor 1)111 informed in-formed that ho hnd a fruit cake, n bottlo of pickled- walnuts, nnd two tins of deviled hnm which hud been sent out to him from London. Kncli mnu hnd something (o report. I carefully care-fully mndo n list of tho nrtlclos" op-, poslto tho naind of Ihd pel-son donating donat-ing them, nnd turned the list over to Hill, whp Wad to act ns". cook on tho following day. Just then Lnnco porpornl Hnll como Ilito tho dugout, nnd wnrmlng bis hn'nds over tho flro bucket said: - "If you blokes want to hear something some-thing that will tuko -you homo to lltighty, como up into tho flro trench n minute." Jv'ono of us moved: That flro bucket buck-et was too comfortable. After much coaxing Snllor Hill. Ikey Honney and myself followed Hnll out of tho dugout dug-out nnd up into tho tiro-trench. A dend sllenco reigned, nnd wo started to return. Hall Mocked our" wny, nnd , whispered : 'Must n minute, boys, nnd listen." Pretty soon, from tho darkness out In front, wo heard tho strnins of n Gorman cornet playing "It's a Long, Long Trail Wo'ro Winding." Wo stood entrunccd till tho last nolo died out. After about n four or flvo-mln-uto wutt tho strains of "Tho Suwnricn Itlvcr" wero wnftod ncross No, Mnn's Land toward us. I felt lonely nnd homesick. Out of tho darkness from tho flro bny on our left n Welsh volco started singing "It's n Long, Long- Trail." It was beautiful. Tho German cornet plnyer must hnvo heard It, becaiiso ho picked up tho tuno and accompanied tho singer on his cornet,, I hnd never heard nnythlng so beautiful In my llfo before. Tito muilc from tho German trench suddenly censed, nnd In tho nlr overhead enmo tho sharp craclfl crnckl of mnchlno gun bullets, ns somo llocho gunner butted In on tho concert. Wo ducked and returned to our dugout. Tho men wero all tired out, nnd soon rasping snores, could bp heard from under tho cover of blnukots nnd overcoats. Tho next day was ChrlHmus, 'and wo cngerly awaited tho mull, which wns to bo brought up by tho ration imrty at noon. Not a snot or shell had been fired all morning. Tho sun had como out nnd, although tho trenches wero slippery slip-pery with mud, still it wns warm, and wo felt tlio Christmas spirit rutmlng through our veins. Wo nil turned In and cleaned up tho dugout. Making reflectors out of nmmuultlon tins, sticking them Into tho walls of tho dugout, wo placed n lighted cnndlo op each, tho rnys from which turned night Into day. Hill' wns hustling about preparing tho Christmas spread. Ho placed n waterproof sheet on tho. floor, and ndd-Ing ndd-Ing threo blankets ho spread another waterproof sheet over tho tqp for n tnblo cloth, nnd arranged tho men's pucks nround tho edges for chairs. Presently tho vrtcomo volco of our sergeant enmo fron tho cntrnnco of tho dugout: "Como on, mo lads, lend n linnd with tho mall." Thcro"wns a mad rush for tho entrance. en-trance. .In a couple of minutes or o tho hoys returned, staggering under a lond of parcels. As each noma wns rend off, a parcel would ho thrown over to tho ojtfecttint Tommy. My heart was beating with eagerness as "Did You' See Th,t Out In Front Yank!" tho scrgennt picked up each parcel; then a parig of disappointment, ns tho nnmo wns read off. i Each man in tho dugout received from ono to four parcels. Thero was still ono left, I could feel their eyes sympathizing with mo. Sailor Hill whispered something to tho sergeant that I could not get. Thq sergeant turned to me nnd said: "Why, blimo me, Yank, I must bo goln' balmy, I left your parcel up in tho trench. I'll bo rl(;hj buck," I, Ho returned In n few niinu'tes with '; n largo parcel addressed to me. I engorly took tho parcel nnd looked for tho post mark. It was" from London. Lon-don. Another pang of disappointment passed through mo. I know no ono, In London. . ' Then It nil flashed over mo In nn In-stnnh In-stnnh About two weeks before I had"1 noticed n collection being taken up. In tho section arid ut tho time ihoughtIt, very strnugo that I was not qskcd"1tOj donntc. Tho 'boys hnd nil chipped into in-to mako suro Hint X would not be for-, gotten on Christmas. They eagerly1 crowded nround mo as I opened tlio parcel. Tt coutntned nenrly overythlng. under .tho sun, including Somo. Amerl can.clgarcttcs. A man named Smith In our section5 bad been detailed ns "runner" to our captain nnd was not present nt tha, distribution of the mall. Three pnr-y eels and flvo letters wertfpincod on hlsi pnek so he would rccelvo them on his return to tho dugout In nhout ten minutes a man enmo' from tho trench londcd down with small oblong boxes. Each Tommy, In-1 eluding myself, received one. They' wero presents from, tho queen of Eng-lnnd, Eng-lnnd, nnd ench box contained n small plum pudding, cigarettes, a couplo of .clgnrs, mntehcB nnd chocolntes. Every; soldier In tho Hrltlsh nrmy received' ono of these boxes on Chrlstmns day. At last Snllor Hill announced tlint Chrlstmns dinner wns ready and wo" lost no tlmo In getting to our respecv tlvo packs, sitting nround lii n circle? Smith wus the onlyjibsontco, nnd hbij pnrccls nnd letters, still unopened, j wero on his pack, no wns now. n hnlf hour overdue. Sailor Hill, noting our eagerness, to, begin, held up his hand and said : "Now boys, we're all shipmates together. to-gether. Don't you think It would Jio I Eagerly Took the Parcel. t better to wait a fow minutes more for Smith?" Wo all assented, but In our .hearts wo wero cursing him for bis delay. Ten minutes passed fifteen -then .twenty. All eyes wero turned ln,Snilor Iltll's direction. Ho answered our looks with: ."Go to It, boye, wo can't wait for Smith. I don't know what's kcoplng him, but you know his namo Is In orders or-ders for leavo and perhaps ho Is, so tickled that bo's going to seo his wife nnd tlirco llttlo nippers In mighty, that he's lost his bearings and has run nground." Wo started In nnd wnxed merry for a few minutes. Then there would bo nn uncomfortable pnuso and nil eyes would bo turned In tho direction of tho vacant place.' Uneasiness seemed to prevail. Suddenly tho cntrnnco to tho dugout dug-out wns darkened nnd n form como stumbling down. . With ono uccord wo nil shouted: "Como on, Smith, you'ro missing ono of the best Christmas dinners of your life." 0"ur sergeant entered tho dugout. Ono look nt his fnco, wns enough. W knew ho was tho benrgr of III tidings. With tears In his eyes and a catch In his volco, ho nsked ; "Which Is Smith's pack?" Wo nil solemnly nodded our hends In the direction di-rection of tho vacant plnce. Without n word tha sergeant picked up tho letters, let-ters, parcels nnd pack and started to leavo the dugout. Snllor Hill could stand tt no lonrcr, nnd Just ns the sergeant was about to leave ho asked: "Out with It, sergeant, what's .happened!" .hap-pened!" Tho scrgennt turned around, nud in a choking voice, salu : "Hoys, Smith's gono west. Some bloody German sniper got him through . the nnpper as ho wus passing that ' bashcd-ln part In Yiddish street." Sailor Hill ejaculated : "Poor old Smith I Gono west !" Then ho paused and sobbed nut: "My God, think of Ills wlfo and threo little nippers nip-pers waiting in mighty for him to como homo for tho Chrlstmns holidays." holi-days." I believe that right at that moment a solemn vow of vengeance registered Itself In every heart around that festive fes-tive circle. Tho next day wo burled Smith In a little cemetery behind the lines. Whllo standing around his grave our artillery suddenly opened up with an Intense bombardment on the German lines, and ns every shell passed, screaming overhend, wo sent n prayer of vengeance ven-geance with It. s 'As tho grAVO wis filled In I imagined a huge rainbow 'embracing ,tho graves i In that cemetery on which, Jn letters of flro wns written "Peace on Earth Good Will Townrd Men." But such Is war. |
